A trip to zoo today...

..we are taking advantage of this beautiful weather in Seattle & staying really busy. Nate had not seen the new penguin exhibit at the zoo so we decided to head over. It was a fun day & in control! I was a bit risky & went with no stroller...figured everyone could walk & get exercise. I had the boys all pick their top 2 must sees & planned a route accordingly, hoping Zach and Ethan made it! I was a little worried about all 4 by myself. We took turns holding Ethan's hand and it all worked out well. There were a couple reminders to slow down & not climb but other than that it was all good!

I remembered from the last trip to the zoo that there was a place to feed the giraffes. I thought I remembered it being $2 a person & asked the boys if they wanted to try it..they thought it was a cool idea. Unfortunately, my memory was off on the price & it was twice as expensive but we went ahead. Here are some pictures from the day!







We found out (some of already knew) that giraffes have very long tongues. I didn't know that they are dark colored to keep from getting sunburned. They spend so much time eating & their tongues are out of their mouths that if their tongues were pink like ours they would get sunburned.



Here is Zach pretending to be a giraffe and seeing how far he can stick his tongue out.



Here are a few other pictures from the day:

Nate's first

JOKE!

Lately we have been eating lots of popsciles. They come with jokes printed on the sticks. Things like:

What can you steal and not get arrested? Second base.
What has ears but can not hear? A field of corn.

You get the idea. The boys all enjoy the jokes. Even Ethan will bring me his stick to have me read the joke...after I finish, he always laughs as if he really gets it! He seems very aware of everyone around him & what they are doing...much of his actions are based on copying what he sees around him.

But I digress from the original reason for this post.

Today in the car, Nate asks a question (and we didn't realize is was a joke).

Nate says, "Why is there no one in the ice cream store?"
Jim and I both both ask, "What ice cream store?" (because we see none around)
Nate says, "Because it was deserted!!" Then laughs & laughs, he continues
by asking if we get it and says, "Get it, ice cream is a dessert, deserted"

It was a good play on words & impressive that he came up with it! There you go, a joke by Nate!

Our first trip to Mt. Rainier

The weather was perfect today so we decided to head up to Mt. Rainier. We opted to the north side instead of Paradise on the south side....saved an hour of driving both ways. So off we headed up to Sunrise!

When I first told the boys we were going to Mt. Rainier, both got really excited & Nate said something to the effect that he can't wait to stand on the top. I had to tell them that we were not going to the top but just part way up & told that going to the top was a several day hike that takes lots of preparation & training. They seemed a bit disappointed but still decided that they wanted to go!

We ended up near the White River...in fact we ate lunch in the river bed. It is a river that runs much fuller in the early Spring when the snow melts. There was still a river running but it was contained to a small section of the river bed. It was pretty cool! We walked along the river for a bit & then hiked the Wonderland Trail...okay, hiked a SMALL portion of the Wonderland Trail. The Wonderland Trail is 93 mile trail that circles that mountain. We walked maybe a mile in & then back. Our best views of the top of the mountain were at the river bed during lunch. Our hike in did not reach any other view points. Next time we are headed to the south side of the mountain where there are short family hikes up to view points to see not only Mt. Rainier but other mountains in the area.

A glimpse of Rainier through the car window on the way down (just before we got to Enemclaw).


View from White River riverbed where we had lunch.

Up Sunrise Entrance there are two spots to stop. The closer is White River & farther along in actual Sunrise stop. The boys were STARVING and needing to stop to we picked the closer White River stopping area. It was 10 more SLOW miles up the hill to Sunrise...which is the highest point you can reach on the mountain by car. Here we are stopped for lunch...


Ethan skipped most of lunch & was happiest throwing rocks into a small puddle that was next to us....probably the best part of the trip for him!



The "bridges" to cross the river were pretty interesting. They were just logs that had been cut & grooved to create a walk-able service with a bit of a hand rail added.


On the trail! Once away from the river & into the forest we were really secluded.

Happy Anniversary to us!

Today is our 11th wedding anniversary...hard to believe. We spent the day in downtown Seattle. No picture because I left the camera at home.

We went to the top of the Space Needle...really cool view! We walked down to the waterfront & eat seafood! Our 5 hours went way too quick!! It was a great day!

Oldest & Youngest

Nate and Ethan played this morning...I caught this picture!

It's raining & pouring....

Seattle just hit tied a record for May & June of 29 days without rain. We almost beat the record but the rain started 11 minutes too early to beat the record with 30 days...that was yesterday. Today the rain continued & I think we got the 29 days' worth of rain in a matter of minutes. Check out these pictures...it POURED & flooded streets around us!

I love these close up pictures!

Sometimes you have to laugh....

...I sent Josh up to get pajamas for Ethan. He listed and brought down the pajamas for me...check it out....



.....the pajamas were a bit stretched out but Ethan still wore them to bed! :)

Worn out after a busy day...

Trip to see Nana & Papa

We took a trip to Gig harbor today to see my grandparents. It was nice to see my grandparents & family!

My grandfather served int he Navy & took us over to the base to see some old carrier ships. The ships were HUGE! Thanks for the tour!

Half of the Washington Gruebers

are headed to Michigan this summer! We just booked tickets for Jim, Nate & Josh for a trip.

Jim is going out to finish up the patio at our old house. For the cost it would have been for someone else to finish, we were able to buy the 3 tickets & complete the work on the patio.

Nate & Josh are very excited to head back to MI to see their friends!

Nate enters

the cyberworld! I created his on email account for him today. He has already sent and received emails!

I am hoping this will be one way to keep him writing & working on this typing over summer break.

Anyone interested in emailing him can send a message message to me & I will forward his email address.

Mr. Backwards

The last couple days, Zach has had his shirts on backwards. At times is shorts and underwear were on backwards also. I thought this was just a mistake, Zach not really paying attention but it turns out that I was wrong.

This afternoon I needed to put a clean shirt on Zach. He asked me to put it on backwards & said he liked it that way....whatever works for him!

Home from pictures!

I took all 4 boys to JCPenny this morning for pictures. While they are not the greatest photographers, I had a coupon so the cost was reasonable. Overall the photo shoot went okay.

Nate did well, except at the end when he was trying to "help" make Ethan smile....not really help.

Josh stayed where he was suppose to when posed but used his cheesy, "fake" smile.

Zach used a lot of hand poses in the pictures & we rarely saw his eyes. His current phase is to smile big, say cheese while squinting his eyes.

Ethan did not want to stand or sit still....probably the most difficult of the bunch!

We did get a couple okay pictures...about what I expected giving the fact that we were photographing 4 boys!

I got copies for everyone...you should see them mid July.

LAST DAY OF SCHOOL!!

This is the last day of school for Nate and Josh! They are very excited for the summer....how many days before I am ready for school to start??

Tooth #3 for Josh!

Josh didn't even tell us his tooth was loose (right, not lose) but if fell out tonight. He didn't want the tooth fairy to come because he wanted to bring the tooth to school to show his teacher. We left a note for asking the tooth fairy to come back tomorrow night.

Zoo Trip!

Today Jim stayed home with Ethan and Zach and I went on a field trip with Josh to the zoo. His teacher had more chaperones than expected, so my group was just Josh and another little boy named Steven. It was actually really nice. The two of them stuck together & we RAN through the zoo. You would have thought there was a finish line & the boys wanted first place! The only time they slowed down was in the reptile house. We stopped at every enclosure to find the snake, lizard or other reptile! We also stopped briefly for lunch but not too long!

Jim did a pretty good job at Mr. Mom. Played a bunch with the boys & put clean sheets on all the beds in the house!

Football Playoffs

Josh's team made it in as the wildcard team for the i9 Flag Football Playoffs. The playoffs are between the champion teams coming from 5 area schools, plus the wildcard team.

They played a great first game. Josh had 4 flag pulls & caught a ball for a touchdown. The second game was a tough one & the team lost. It was a fun season. Josh learned a great deal! The team ended up finished 3rd out of 32 teams in their league...not bad!